August 3 – St Mary’s Catholic Church – Cheshire, MA (Day 137 – milepoint 1552.6)

Easy nine mile day into Cheshire, Mass. About a mile before town I was halted by some movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked right to see a black bear not more than 5 feet away. I had almost walked right by him/her. (Let’s make it a female). She hadn’t noticed me yet as her face was buried in the trunk of a dead tree gnawing and scratching to get at what I later saw to be a huge colony of ants/termites. I was entranced.

After an eternity of about 10 seconds she raised her head lazily and saw me standing there. And then time stopped for another eternity of about 2 seconds.

I wonder what went through her mind as she raised her head to see and smell a bearded backpacker standing there? Did I look competent enough to appear as a threat? Did she like my backpack? How did she like the Doobie Brothers rockin’ out on my Walkman? Did she wonder, “Without love, where would she be now?” Or was I just scary, like a clown in a horror movie?

Whatever registered with her, she was out of sight in only a few seconds (most likely to find a quiet spot to contemplate love).

Note: There will be no outrunning a bear.

I took a deep breath and walked on. Arrived at St. Mary’s Catholic Church/Hostel and relaxed for a bit before joining Achilles for lunch at a nearby deli. Back at the church, Tom Lavardi showed up, stuffed a bunch of us in his truck and took us to a nearby mall with movie theatres, where Paka Bear introduced Achilles and I to the art of seeing multiple movies for the price of one. We saw Air Force One, Men in Black, and Contact.

A couple of beers and a pre-season football game at the mall restaurant/bar before calling a taxi back to the church. Sketchy taxi driver. We were happy to get out of that cab alive with our feet back on solid ground.

Aquaholic